This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR01/00240 which has an International filing date of Feb. 17, 2001, which designated the United States of America and was published in English.
The present invention relates to a lubricant supply apparatus for a reciprocating compressor, and in particular to a lubricant supply apparatus for a reciprocating compressor that is capable of reducing the number of parts and facilitating assembling.
In general, a reciprocating compressor compresses refrigerant gas by a linear reciprocating motion of a piston combined with a magnet and coil assembly in place of a crankshaft.
As depicted in FIG. 1, a reciprocating compressor in accordance with the prior art includes a compressing unit C horizontally installed inside a casing V containing lubricant at a lower portion. The compressing unit C draws in, compresses and discharges a refrigerant. A lubricant supply apparatus O is fixed to the exterior of the compressing unit C for supplying lubricant thereto.
As depicted in FIGS. 2A-2B, the lubricant supply apparatus O includes a lubricant cylinder 21 installed at the bottom surface of the compressing unit C. A lubricant piston 22 is inserted inside the lubricant cylinder 21 and divides the interior of the lubricant cylinder 21 into a suction area S1 and a discharge area S2. A first lubricant spring 23A and a second lubricant spring 23B elastically support both ends of the lubricant piston 22 at the end of the lubricant cylinder 22. A lubricant suction valve 24 is installed at an outlet end of the lubricant piston 22 and is supported by the second lubricant spring 23B. A lubricant discharge valve 25 is installed at an outlet side of the lubricant cylinder 21.
The lubricant piston 22 is inserted into and slidable with respect to the lubricant cylinder 21, e.g, an outer circumference of the lubricant piston 22 is in contact with the inner circumference of the lubricant cylinder 21. A lubricant passage 22a is formed inward of the lubricant cylinder 21 by penetrating the lubricant cylinder 21 from an inlet to an outlet.
The lubricant suction valve 24 is compressed and supported by the second lubricant spring 23B at a section of the outlet of the lubricant piston 22 so as to open and shut the lubricant passage 22a formed inward of the lubricant piston 22.
In FIGS. 1-2B, unexplained reference numeral 1 is a frame, 1a is a lubricant suction channel, 3 is a cylinder, 4 is an inner stator and an outer stator, 5 is a magnetic assembly, 6 is a piston, 7 is a suction valve, 8 is a discharge valve assembly, 9 is a suction pipe, 26 is a suction cover, 27 is a discharge cover, S1 is a suction area, and a S2 is a discharge area.
The operation of the lubricant supply apparatus of the reciprocating compressor in accordance with the prior art will be described hereinafter. In a linear reciprocating motion of the magnetic assembly 5 of a reciprocating motor, the compressing unit C oscillates horizontally along with the magnetic assembly 5, etc., the linear reciprocating movement is transmitted to the lubricant cylinder 21 fixed to the compressing unit C, e.g., the lubricant cylinder 21 also performs a linear reciprocating motion. The lubricant piston 22 is slidably inserted into the lubricant cylinder 21 and draws in and discharges lubricant by performing a reciprocating motion inside the lubricant cylinder 21 due to an inertia force opposed to the reciprocating motion of the lubricant cylinder 21.
First, as depicted in FIG. 2A, when the lubricant cylinder 21 moves to a xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d direction, the lubricant piston 22 moves in a direction opposite to a motion of the lubricant cylinder 21 by overcoming the first lubricant spring 23A. Since a pressure of the discharge area S2 is lower than a pressure of the suction area S1, lubricant of the suction area S1 flows to the discharge area S2 through the lubricant passage 22a. The lubricant suction valve 24 is opened and the lubricant discharge valve 25 returns and shuts the discharge side of the lubricant cylinder 21, e.g., thereby preventing a back flow of lubricant.
As depicted in FIG. 2B, when the lubricant cylinder 21 moves to a xe2x80x9cQxe2x80x9d direction, the lubricant piston 22 moves in a direction opposite to a motion of the lubricant cylinder 21 by overcoming the second lubricant spring 23B. This action pushes lubricant filled inside the discharge area S2, and at the same time lubricant is filled in the suction area S1 by flowing through a gap between the lubricant cylinder 21 and a lubricant suction cover 26. The lubricant passage 22a of the lubricant piston 22 is shut by shutting the lubricant suction valve 24. In contrast, if the lubricant discharge valve 25 is opened, the discharge side of the lubricant cylinder 21 is opened.
However, the inventor of the present application has determined that the lubricant supply apparatus of the reciprocating compressor of the background art suffers from the following problems.
First, in the above-identified lubricant supply apparatus for a reciprocating compressor, a lubricant suction channel and a lubricant discharge channel are separately placed at both sides of a lubricant piston. In addition, lubricant is guided from a suction area to a discharge area through a lubricant passage formed inside the lubricant piston.
However, since the lubricant passage has to be formed inside the lubricant piston as small as possible, it is difficult to fabricate the lubricant passage. When a diameter of the lubricant passage increases in order to facilitate the fabrication of the lubricant passage, the required size of the lubricant piston increases. Accordingly a compact lubricant supply apparatus cannot be provided in the above-identified lubricant supply apparatus of the prior art.
In addition, since the size of a lubricant suction valve controlling suction and discharge of lubricant is small, manual assembly and operation is more difficult, and as a result, productivity is lowered. Since an opening and shutting portion (not shown) of the lubricant suction valve is bridged by the compression coil springs supporting the lubricant piston, suction and discharge of lubricant cannot be controlled appropriately. Further, smooth operation cannot be performed when impurities stick to the lubricant suction valve. Accordingly reliability of parts and operation is significantly lowered. In addition, since an increased number of parts are required in order to construct the lubricant supply apparatus, the complexity of the assembly process is increased, and productivity is decreased.
Accordingly, in order to solve above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lubricant supply apparatus of for a reciprocating compressor that is capable of supplying lubricant smoothly, without forming a lubricant passage in a lubricant piston, and while maintaining a compact structure.
In addition, it is another object of the present invention to provide a lubricant supply apparatus for a reciprocating compressor that is capable of supplying lubricant while also simplifying the assembly of the lubricant supply apparatus.
It is another object to prevent parts of the lubricant supply apparatus from interfering with other parts.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a lubricant supply apparatus of a reciprocating compressor that is capable of improving productivity by simplifying assembly, e.g., by decreasing the number of parts.
These and other objects are accomplished by a reciprocating compressor comprising a reciprocating motor having a reciprocating magnetic assembly positioned between an inner stator and an outer stator;
a compression unit having a cylinder and a lubricant guide passage guiding lubricant inside the cylinder; and a piston operatively connected to the magnetic assembly for compressing a refrigerant while sliding inside the cylinder; and a lubricant supply apparatus for the reciprocating compressor, including a hollow lubricant cylinder having an interior space; a lubricant piston being slidably installed inside the lubricant cylinder; a lubricant suction channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder to draw in lubricant stored in a lubrication storage container of the reciprocating compressor; a lubricant discharge channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder to discharge lubricant; wherein the lubricant suction passage and the lubricant discharge passage are placed at a side of the lubricant cylinder centering around the lubricant piston.
These and other objects are accomplished by a reciprocating compressor comprising a reciprocating motor having a reciprocating magnetic assembly positioned between an inner stator and an outer stator; a compression unit having a cylinder and a lubricant guide passage guiding lubricant inside the cylinder; and a piston operatively connected to the magnetic assembly for compressing a refrigerant while sliding inside the cylinder; and a lubricant supply apparatus for the reciprocating compressor, including a hollow lubricant cylinder having an interior space; a lubricant piston placed inside the lubricant cylinder and being capable of sliding within the cylinder; a lubricant suction channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder to draw in lubricant stored in a lubricant storage container of the reciprocating compressor; a lubricant discharge channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder to discharge lubricant; a lubricant valve unit having a lubricant suction valve and a discharge valve, a lubricant suction passage and a lubricant discharge passage and a valve cover; wherein the lubricant suction passage and the lubricant discharge passage are placed at a side of the lubricant cylinder centering around the lubricant piston, and the lubricant valve unit is placed at the exterior of the lubricant cylinder.
These and other objects are accomplished by a reciprocating compressor comprising a reciprocating motor having a reciprocating magnetic assembly positioned between an inner stator and an outer stator; a compression unit having a cylinder and a lubricant guide passage guiding lubricant inside the cylinder; and a piston operatively connected to the magnetic assembly for compressing a refrigerant while sliding inside the cylinder; and a lubricant supply apparatus for the reciprocating compressor, including a hollow lubricant cylinder having an interior space; a lubricant piston placed inside the lubricant cylinder and being capable of sliding within the lubricant cylinder; a lubricant suction channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder to draw in lubricant stored in a lubricant storage container; a lubricant discharge channel connected to the interior space of the lubricant cylinder so as to discharge lubricant; a lubricant valve unit having a lubricant suction valve and a discharge valve, a lubricant suction passage and a lubricant discharge passage and a valve cover; wherein the lubricant valve unit is placed on the exterior of the lubricant cylinder.